San Diego. Hello, Ocean.

The ocean is magical. I'm in love with her, and I am terrified of her all at the same time. On my drive down the I-5, I could not stop myself from snapping pictures with my $30 Walmart camera phone. I knew the pictures would not adequately capture the Beauty in all of her sunshine-y goodness and glory. Yet, I tried. I sent a text to my mom back in Utah that said, "The ocean says, 'hello.'" She quickly replied requesting me to "tell her I miss her." That's how I know the ocean is a girl. Because my mom says so.

I was grateful for the opportunity to spend time in California. I flew in to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County and drove down to San Diego for the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) National Conference. Although the conference was ever-informing and a good experience, I really wanted to make it happen so that I could see my beautiful Aunt Lisa and family. I can't say enough about how fantastic each member of that family is. My collection of pictures will have to suffice.

Old Town San Diego is a gem.. a little hidden treasure. We enjoyed a good California-Mexican meal complete with our 70-year-old super Caucasian server. Lisa and I just couldn't make ourselves call him the Mexican name we had planned to call our waiter... it just didn't fit.

Speaking of things not fitting...


Hmmm... Look, it's Panchita in the middle! I swear I grabbed the child size...
or perhaps my head really IS that big...

The Mormon Battalion Site was recently rebuilt, rededicated, and was absolutely amazing. A very enjoyable experience!


We got to pan for gold! I found a nice chunk o' gold.

Eliza, Zoe, and Noah helped out during the awesome interactive tour.
Noah would have been a great soldier in the Mormon Battalion.

Patrick, Lisa, Eliza, Noah, Zoe, Me
I really LOVE them.
Thank you for letting me join you for a few BLESSED days!